great article. can you get player/coach interviews?

To call you my worthy replacement would be too kind to my own work. Great report, Soul-crushing match.

Comment from the web-feed: Knowles looks too comfy on the air. He might be planning ahead. Time to go find some new defense

Brian, great report. Well done, and keep them coming.

I agree with almost all your player evaluations. Nimo, Joy, Keel, and McManus were the stand-outs for me, with Nimo and Joy sharing MOTM for Timbers. It's hard to complain about Pore given that he leads the league in goals as a midfielder, but I thought he was off last night... drifting inside too much (and as a result, getting caught out of position and leaving acres on the sideline for Carolina to exploit), and diving too much. But he did score the goal, so he gets a pass. The two big disappointments for me were Marcelin and Kirk. Poor touch, passing, and footwork. Total speculation here, but maybe Wilkinson made a deal with their agents that they would start a certain number of games and play a certain number of minutes this season.

Final note: as far as first starts ever go, Dike looked fairly solid. Probably better than Keita on the night, actually, but Keita has been off ever since returning from India. But at the end of the day, Portland forwards have combined to score two goals in nine league games. Ouch.

I am cutting Kieta some slack through this game. He's a couple of weeks past a broken nose and our in-close attack strategy is head-high balls to the two forwards inside the penalty area. Who among us wouldn't flinch slightly, with our nose bones like a cracked eggshell, as we contested with some hard headed defender for a fifty fifty ball?

Re. Marcelin & Kirk- I hadn't considered contractual restrictions as the possible reason for their baffling over-use by Wilkinson. Hmmm.

What's the operatic term for blueballs?